Gas grills have become very popular as outdoor portable cooking devices. Portable gas grills generally consist of a cooking chamber supported by a support frame having wheels. The cooking chamber generally consists of gas burners in the lower portion of the chamber and a cooking grid spaced a distance above the gas burners for supporting the food to be cooked. A fuel tank containing a liquid fuel, such as liquid propane, is mounted to the support frame and a gas regulator hose assembly connects the fuel tank to the gas burners. When the fuel tank becomes emptied, it must be removed from its mounting and replaced with a full fuel tank.
Because it is not desirable to have the fuel run out during use of the barbecue grill, a tank scale measuring the amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank is employed. Prior attempts to provide a measurement device for measuring the amount of fuel remaining in a fuel tank generally fall within one of two categories: (1) platform style scales (i.e., those which are designed to have the fuel tank rest on a spring loaded platform), and (2) indicator arm style scales (i.e., those where the fuel tank is hung from the scale and a spring loaded indicator arm protrudes from the scale to point to a fuel indication gauge). However, both platform style scales and indicator arm style scales have several drawbacks including their complexity, bulkiness and the fact that they are specially designed for use with a specific grill having a specific frame structure.
1. Platform Style Scales:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,505 discloses a tank scale wherein a LP tank is placed on a spring-loaded platform. A pointer made of several linkages in the pedestal of the grill frame is linked to the platform and moves when the platform moves, thus indicating the amount of fuel in the tank on a display in a panel of the grill.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,159 discloses a tank scale wherein a fuel tank is positioned on and clamped to a clamping ring style platform. Dependent on the relative weight or content of the amount of fuel contained in the tank, a spring loaded lever contacting the fuel tank moves up and down. The lever is adapted to move a flexible indicator member which has a horizontal marker or indicia and acts to indicate the relative position of the indicator when compared to a stationary indicia imprinted on a cover plate of the grill base.
2. Indicator Arm Style Scales:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,515 discloses a fuel level gauge employing a gauge member type indicator arm. One end of the gauge member is connected to the top of the fuel tank, and the other end of the gauge member passes through an opening in the leg of the grill and protrudes out the opposite side of the leg. The fuel level in the tank is indicated by the amount of the gauge member protruding through the opening in the leg.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,964 (commonly assigned) discloses a tank scale wherein a first element is connected to a cross member of the frame and the second element is connected to the tank. An indicator arm is connected to the first element and is pivoted by movement of the second element relative to the first member. Thus, as the weight of the tank moves the second element, the indicator arm changes angles. The indicator arm works in conjunction with a scale on a leg of the cart, thus indicating the amount of fuel remaining within the tank by pointing to the scale.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,364 discloses an indicator arm style fuel gauge for cart-mounted fuel tanks wherein one bracket is secured to the cart and another bracket is secured to the fuel tank. An indicator rod extending from the cart bracket indicates the attitude of the tank relative to a fixed reference point on the control panel of the grill, thereby indicating the amount of fuel left in the tank.
Accordingly, a tank scale in accordance with the present invention provides a small, inexpensive, and universal tank scale which eliminates the drawbacks of the prior tank scales described above.